In an exclusive interview with Oakham Nub News, Rutland County Councillor Raymond Payne has shared his concerns about voter suppression following a decision by the UK Government to introduce the requirement to provide photographic ID when voting.

The Elections Act 2022 will introduce the requirement to show photo ID at UK Parliamentary elections, police and crime commissioner elections and at local elections in England. 

Cllr Ray Payne said: "The UK Government has announced a plan to stop people voting in elections unless they can show Photo ID. This will have a very negative impact on voters from underrepresented and marginalised backgrounds. It is worrying, to say the least, that for example, Oyster travel cards for the over 60s will be acceptable but those for the over 18s will not.

"Currently 3.5 million people do not have access to Photo ID and 11 million people do not have a Passport or Driving Licence. This policy is in fact the exact opposite to what the Government should be doing which is to help people to get involved in politics and to have their voices heard at the ballot box.Everyone deserves their right to vote regardless of whether they possess a form of photo ID or not. Voter fraud is simply not a big enough problem to justify disenfranchising millions of people!"

Voters will need to show an approved form of photographic identification before they can collect their ballot paper to vote in a polling station, according to measures in the Elections Bill.

While some see this as a positive step, many have argued that this simply makes it hard for minorities to vote.

The Electoral Reform Society website states that: "Evidence from around the world shows that forcing voters to bring photographic ID to the polling station just makes it harder for people to vote – while doing little to increase faith in the integrity of the system. The Government think their scheme could cost up to £180,000,000 a decade. We don't need to spend millions to put up barriers to people taking part in our democracy."

Cllr Payne concluded: "Recent attempts by the Conservative Government to introduce the requirement for voters to produce Photo I D at the polling booth at elections, under the guise of stopping voter fraud, is unnecessary, as voter fraud is not an issue in the UK."

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